Jase

Don't think there's any chance of Chilwell returning this season. ACL injury takes a long time to recover and if he magically recovers fast, he won't the match fitness to play games either. Anyway, pretty sure we can add/remove player from the squad list this month. We still have space in the non-HG list and we can remove Chilwell or Lewis Baker, who is on the list for some reason: https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/09/09/Chelsea-s-premier-league-squad-confirmed

It was interesting that when asked whether Lukaku has a long term future at the club, Tuchel said "ask him (Lukaku)" and then just cited his long term contract. One of the journalists also pointed out that Lukaku has never stayed for many years at a club, citing only 2 years each at United and then Inter. Funnily enough, his longest term at a club was at Everton and one of those seasons was a loan deal.

Simon Johnson seems to suggest it was more of the club's signing according to this latest podcast (from 22:54): https://podfollow.com/1488521447/episode/fad6dc858962d3bdb1b704a88596f8df86771794/view "Tuchel was on the phone to Romelu as part of the process to sign him. Of course Tuchel would have loved to sign Haaland, who was probably his first choice. You would sort of say "Does Lukaku tick all of Tuchel's boxes?". No but can Lukaku make an improvement on this Chelsea side? Yes. The club always wanted to sign to Lukaku again. They showed that in 2017. It was the best player they could get at the time. It's up to Lukaku and Tuchel to make it work." On a side note, The Athletic's Adam Crafton pointed out that Lukaku has a high school degree in PR, which makes this whole fiasco even more hilarious.

I know we want players to be honest and not just spout PR bullshit but I can't for the life of me understand how Neville and some other English journalists used that as an excuse to defend Lukaku in this situation. He literally disrespected Tuchel, the club and his teammates and made the fans pissed off. There's a time and way to be honest about things but everything he did was not them.

Think it's a combination of different things. They haven't had a dominant manager, someone who will hold these players accountable etc in ages. They haven't had a proper manager who is in tune with the modern game in ages. They also have a squad with some very average players.

Just noticed you have been quiet on Lukaku. lol

Don't think they have the players to play a modern pressing game. This squad have been largely formed on the back of two managers who are pragmatic and like to play more on the counter.

Without even hindsight, think that is clear. Rangnick's reputation has come as a sporting director or roles along those lines as opposed to a manager. Plus, he has never managed a big club in his career before. He may have done a good job at them but all the club he's managed are below United/Chelsea's level.

Perhaps so and given everything he's done and said, would a public apology even mean anything at this point?

It's like Nuno never left.

Realist > Optimist. 😛

This isn't aimed at you but seriously, fuck off with Lukaku complaining about the system and anyone attempting to defend him on that. We won the freaking Champions League (and the UEFA Super Cup) with this system and without Lukaku and he expect us to suddenly change everything to suit him? I don't care if he cost 100 million or not but he's no Ronaldo or Messi, who you are inclined to make adjustments or compromises to the system for to fit them in. Besides the goals, what has Lukaku won besides ONE Serie A title in his career? Furthermore, this is a guy who has said he is now a "multidimensional" striker and that he's improved a lot from his time at Inter. He also said this when he joined in August: https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/08/16/romelu-lukaku-exclusive-first-interview-on-coming-back-as-a-lead ‘My role will depend on what the game plan is and what the boss wants me to do. If he wants me to be a focal point or if he wants me to attack the spaces in behind, I can do it. The two years in Italy helped me master all the facets of the game for a striker and now I’m ready. ‘I like the system that we play and I’m very flexible. I can play as a two or by myself and I’m used to the system because it’s what we play with the Belgian national team so I don’t need much time to adapt. It’s just knowing the strengths of my team-mates in important positions and knowing what we do off the ball, then I can do the rest.’ If he's as good as he's made himself out to be, then he should be able to play in and adapt to different tactical setups instead of bitching about how the manager doesn't play the way he wants.

Mate, you need to stop making such proclamations. 🤣

If you only read the sensationalized headlines or stories reported by the English media, sure it might have been taken out of context but if you read the full actual quotes from the interview, there was anything taken out of context. He said what he said pretty clearly. I don't know if you have seen it but Lukaku literally agreed to the interview without even his representatives knowing anything about it, never mind the club. And oh, he did the interview in his house too.

United could have gotten Conte but they are too scared of winning...

When even Di Canio is hitting the nail on the head... https://www.getfootballnewsitaly.com/2022/di-canio-slams-chelseas-lukaku-he-complains-at-the-first-difficulties/ “There are various aspects to consider in this interview: the character, the contradictions, the moment, the lack of awareness of what you are saying and at what levels. Then, there’s the weakness of an athlete who gives up after six months because perhaps he arrived there with an arrogance due to the fact that he does not realize the size and the levels. He won the Scudetto in Italy as a co-star with his teammates, but he is not a Messi or a player like that. With Zapata, Inter would have won anyway. He’s a functional player who did his duty.”

???

We haven't crashed and burned, that's for sure. Gonna jinx it but still only 3 defeats all season. When was the last time we had this few defeats at this point of the season? It's just those draws! Also, don't get the feeling that the players have given up on Tuchel like we have seen so many times in the past.

Oh...here's our last 12 league results at HOME against Liverpool: L 0-1 L 1-2 D 1-1 W 2-1 D 1-1 L 1-3 L 1-2 W 1-0 D 1-1 L 1-2 L 0-2 D 2-2

4 goals in the first half and of course, 0 in the second. Classic. Good fight back but strange game really. They went 2-0 up out of nothing. We got it 2-2 out of nowhere. Both teams profited from mistakes and neither one really forced the issue.

What a stupid game. But that goal from Kovacic...WOW!

The players look rather lethargic...

Would argue that none of those 4 situations were anything like this. Lukaku didn't just disrespect Tuchel, the fans, players in the media, he also disrespected the club who invested so much money in him with what he said. It's also made worse by the fact he went and agreed to the interview without the club knowing it/authorizing it and not even his agent knew anything about it.

The timing of this drama is also funny considering we will be facing his favorite manager Conte over the next few games.

lol He was at least one of the few guys who was actually scoring before he got the hamstring injury and then COVID. Plus, his pace would have come in handy against Liverpool's high line, just like it did at Anfield last season.